Emilia Pérez is a jumble of genres, yet somehow it works. Part crime drama, part musical, part arty, part mainstream, part weird. It’s really hard to explain without messing up the pronouns. But here’s the gist:
In Mexico, a menacing cartel kingpin named Manitas (Karla Sofía Gascón) enlists the aid of a sharp, under-appreciated young lawyer named Rita (Zoe Saldaña) to help him fake his own death and secure a sex-change operation (aka gender-affirming surgery) so he can finally live authentically as his true self. As a woman.
Rita takes the job–and hefty paycheck–and Manitas secretly becomes Emilia Perez. A couple years later, Emilia hires Rita again– this time to figure out a way for Emilia to reunite with her children. Rita introduces Manitas’s “widow” Jessi (Selena Gomez) and her kids to long-lost “Aunt Emilia,” and they all move in together. It works… until it doesn’t.
That’s all I’ll say about the plot because this is one of those movies that you just gotta roll with. Some will make it through; others will bail. Try to stick with it, especially for the performances. Gascón could become the first openly trans actress nominated for an Oscar. (She won the best actress award at Cannes.)
Emilia Pérez, directed by French filmmaker Jaques Audiard, is bloody and bittersweet, dark and light. It dabbles in themes of transformation, rebirth, redemption, heartbreak, good and evil– all punctuated by songs (also of various genres) that express what the characters are experiencing or feeling at critical junctures in the story. Again, it’s weird– but it works. For the most part. Give it a shot.
Emilia Perez is available on Netflix.